Hello Lenoid, thanks for your interest
Yeah, there are some very nice reefs here to scuba, wich I spend a lot of my free time on (I take it you saw my profile picture)
Around Culebra and Vieques we got some excellent scuba spots, the west coast is also an excellent plce to hang in the sea, specially during whale breeding season. Great animals.
Not only that, but the island is great for hiking, we got the best tropical forest in the USA. Little known fact, but aviation is GREAT here too. I also spend a lot of time in that. Great views, great weather.
We use the dollar as our currency, and we dont pay taxes, so everything is very cheap in here (except in tourist areas, by custom, they tend to get diddlyed in the bellybutton by high prices wich they are always willing to pay)
Laws are strict, and the people are very nice almost through the island.
That commom image you see on TV about Puerto Ricans being hoodlooms with no education is just a misconception based on many people who live in New York who call themselves Puerto Ricans, but have NEVER been to Puerto Rico, and most of them do not even speak spanish. They dont represent the Puerto-Rican population at all. Whats here, is COMPLETLY different to what you see there.
About our history:
We were discovered by Chrisopher Colombus in November 19, 1493, where he found around 60,000 native indiands ( "Tainos" ) who where promptly turned into slaves and soon after exterminated till they were extinct. After the natives where gone, the spaniards brought here African natives to work in plantations as slaves.
In 1521, the paranoid Spaniards where very concerned that the island was in danger from other European countries and began building MASSIVE fortifications through the island, specially on San Juan, our capital.
Nothing much other than the constant abuse of the people happened in the island until 1809, when the island was recognized as an overseas province with rights to send representatives to Spains goverment. A lot of political unrest in this time, and a few revolution attempts.
The most important change came in 1897, when the US, after much effort from Puerto Rican patriots, granted us autonomy and free comerce with the United States and other countries, and we were almost there for independence.
Shorty after independence was granted, in 1898 due to the Spanish-American wars, the US seized Puerto Rico as one of their territories and a strategic post on the Atlantic.
In the 20th Century the island saw phenomenal growth after a few years in limbo by the US goverment, the people of PR where granted US citizenship in 1917. Two decades later FD-Roosevelt launched a MASSIVE reconstruction effort in the island, bringing it up to the industry and living standards of any other US State. The island in general is very fond of FDR's efforts, we have many streets named after him :-P
In 1952 the island was declared an autonomous commonwealth, after wich the island entered a 20 year state of SUPERB growth in wich our economy grew to the point where the living standards surpassed those of many US states. This was looked at by othe countries as the "Puerto Rico Miracle" after other developing economies look at the islands progress in awe. (you take a VERY poor country and in 20 years turn it into a rich, prosperous one)
At the moment, the island is a great, great place. A public misconception is that Puerto Ricans emigrate into the US by the hundreds daily. LOL. Thats NOT so. North Americans inmigrate to our island in MUCH higher numbers in the present. Most people who leave the country are young people leaving to study in foreign colleges, and coming back to work here.
As you can see by all I have writen just by memory, our education is EXCELLENT (you know that if they got a putz like me to learn all this). Our school system is based mostly on private schools, wich are attended by low-middle class, middle class, and high class students. poor students attend public high schools wich are just like the normal public schools in the US.
We are thought Puerto Rican History, US History, European History, and American History. EACH ONE TAKING A WHOLE COURSE TO LEARN. Most of us know english and spanish, both fluently.
Most of our industry is based on the drugs industry (not the illegal type
, pharmaseutics) and on general science.
Currently, the University of Puerto Rico in the town of Mayaguez, is graduating more NASA candidates than even MIT. NASA constantly comes to Puerto Rico looking for potentials.
Our banking system is VERY advanced, with eBanking starting in 1995, and the US and other European nations studying our banking system as an example for their new eBanking infrastructure.
What more do you wanna know?
EDIT: I just realized our history is more rich and interesting than Canadas
[ 08-07-2001: Message edited by: Animal ]
